The Confusion of Omega
by Omega Cyborg Cat
Summary: Project E-150[c] codename: Omega has been sent to kill Sonic. But he's different from the other E-series robots. For one thing, he's not a robot. He's a Cyborg. Will he succeed in destroying Sonic? Or will he make his own path? Finished, if short.
1. Origins

It was just another night in the life of one small alley cat. He was a young tom, not yet in his prime. He had a rather common fur pattern, all black with a white bib on his chest. He was digging around for scraps in a dumpster, when something strange happened. The dumpster was hit by something traveling at high speed. The tom hissed, jumping away until he could assess whether to run or fight. Of course, at this point, the tom couldn't rationalize that far, being a cat. The thing that had run into the dumpster smelled like a hedgehog, but subtly different… for one thing, it was wearing red and white shoes and was blue. The cat went over to the unmoving hedgehog cautiously and sniffed his gloved hand. He nosed him, and mewed at him.

Then came the sound of an engine. The cat turned and laid his ears flat at the sound. It was some sort of flying machine… it stopped, and landed in front of the blue hedgehog. A man, very round, and all in red and black, stepped out and picked up the hedgehog by the back of the neck. In words that the cat could not understand, the man said to the unconscious hedgehog, "So, Sonic… I have finally gotten my hands on you…"

The cat hissed at the man. He didn't smell right. The hedgehog didn't, either, but at least he didn't smell like greed and pride. The man ignored the cat, turning to take the hedgehog back to the flying machine. The cat decided to fight, at that exact moment. He pounced; latching onto the man's leg, and sank his teeth in deep. The man yowled, letting go of the hedgehog. The hedgehog woke from being jarred, and ran off quickly. "You stupid cat!" the man said, after separating the cat from his leg and grabbing it by the scruff of the neck. "You ruined weeks of planning! I ought to destroy you for that! But no… I'm not going to destroy you… I'm going to use you…"

The man grabbed a needle from the flying machine and jabbed it into the cat's side. For a while, that was all that the cat knew.

When the cat awoke, he was acutely aware of a pain in his ear. He was also acutely aware that he was an individual. This was very odd. He tried to scratch his ear, but he couldn't move his paw. He looked down at it, and was extremely surprised by what he saw.

It wasn't his front leg. It was an arm, and it was strapped down on some sort of steel table. He had been changed… he examined the rest of himself. He was wearing white gloves over his paws, but his claws were permanently sticking out of them. There was some sort of metal band across his chest, with shoulder clamps. Most of his left arm was now mechanical, except from the wrist down. As his gaze moved down, he saw that he was bipedal now. His fur was still there, still the same pattern… his feet were apparently changed, because they were in some sort of black and white shoes.

The table suddenly tipped up, and he saw the man from last night. "Sleep well?" the man said, and the cat could understand him. "I hope so. I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik. You are lucky to be alive, after what Sonic did to you."

The cat furrowed his brow… "Sonic?" he asked, and was amazed at how he had spoken.

"Ah, your first word… delightful. Yes, Sonic, the hedgehog, the evil mastermind behind many plans for world dominance! He nearly killed you, when I came and drove him off! It was all I could do to save you, and in order to do that, I had to change you into a sentient form. I'm not surprised you don't remember. You took quite a hit to the head."

The cat gave Robotnik a puzzled look. "I… I don't remember… why am I tied up like this…?"

"To keep you from hurting yourself, of course. Would you like me to let you down?"

The cat nodded. "Yes… I want down… and something to eat…" he said slowly.

Robotnik smiled most grimly. He pressed a button on the control panel in front of him, and the straps holding the cat down were suddenly gone. The cat landed on his feet, his robotic arm held out to absorb some of the impact. Then he stood up slowly. He moved his robotic arm around slowly, all through its motions. It flowed flawlessly. "Why did you save me?" the cat asked.

"First, we need to give you a name. How does Omega sound?"

"Omega…" the cat said, rolling the sound on his tongue, trying it out. "I like it…"

"Good, so your name is now Omega. Well, Omega, I saved you so that you could help me in the fight against Sonic. Will you help me?"

The newly named Omega frowned a bit. Something just wasn't quite right. But he said, "Yes."

"Perfect! Well, now that you've agreed to help me, we'll need to train you to fight!"

Omega spent the next few months training to fight Sonic. He learned to use a weapon, a razor-edged chain. During this time, he noticed that he was still only about half as tall as Robotnik, about as tall as Sonic, he supposed. Mostly, he trained against robots that looked like Sonic, trying to hone his abilities as far as they would go. Finally, Robotnik deemed him ready to go up against Sonic, and gave him a brand new chain, one that was much lighter and shinier than his previous one. "This weapon is an alloy of steel, tungsten, titanium, and vanadium. Unbreakable, and sharp enough to shear through bone! Use it well, Omega…" Robotnik said as he smiled and presented it to him.

Omega nodded as he coiled it at his side. "I will, Dr., for the good of all!"

After that, they departed in a plane for the last known location of Sonic. When they were over the spot, Omega jumped out of the plane, sans parachute. He spread his body out to slow his descent, and eventually landed, cat-agile, but rather heavily, kicking up a huge cloud of dust as he created a small shockwave in the air. He stood slowly, and as the dust cleared, he saw a blue streak approaching from the distance. It was Sonic, of course…

Sonic kept approaching, screeching to a halt in front of Omega. Omega's tail lashed angrily as he addressed Sonic… "Sonic the hedgehog?"

"What's it to ya, Cat?" Sonic demanded, smirking.

"My name is not 'Cat', although I see how you could be confused. My name is Omega, and I am here to stop your reign of terror!"

"Reign of terror? What reign of- oh, I see… you're one of Eggman's creations! Well, that's no problem."

"I'm no robot, Sonic. Just my arm. And now, you die."


	2. Literally Painful Revelations

And with that last word, Omega lashed out at Sonic with his claws, missing the hedgehog, but only just. Another slash, and another miss… Omega was getting frustrated. Suddenly, something became subtly, somehow, wrong… Omega could sense something trying to sneak up on him. Movement, behind him! He dodged to the left, and the downward stroke of a huge mallet missed him by inches. Spinning, he saw that the hammer was being swung by another hedgehog… a pink one, in a pink dress. This was getting ridiculous… "Amy, what are you doing? Get out of here; it's dangerous! Omega…" Sonic started.

Amy shook her head. "This cat's trying to kill you, Sonic! I can't just sit idle as he attacks you!"

"Brave hedgehog. Stupid, but brave. I don't have a quarrel with you, whoever you are. It's this brutal dictator I'm trying to destroy!" Omega shouted, and grabbed the chain at his side, wrapping it around his hand so that the sharp edges wouldn't cut him.

He swung the chain at Sonic, in a brutal swing that not even he could dodge… but Amy leapt into its path. Omega tried to pull his swing so as to not hurt her, but was too late. The tip of the chain sliced across her belly, making a large, probably non-fatal gash. Amy screamed in pain, falling back into Sonic's arms. Omega used the remaining momentum of the swing to wrap the rest of the chain around his hand. He walked over to Amy as Sonic fussed over her, trying to stop the bleeding. "Stop that…" he told Sonic, holding out his robotic arm.

A compartment opened, revealing a small syringe, a needle and thread, and a roll of gauze. Omega handed the gauze to Sonic as he readied the needle and thread and syringe. "Hold this," he said, as he handed it to him, and injected the anesthetic into Amy's wound.

Sonic, totally confused, held Amy as she screamed again. Omega sighed, and began to sew her up with the needle and thread. As he finished, both his hands were bloody. "Gauze," he said to Sonic, holding out his hand for it.

Sonic handed it to him, looking quite concerned for Amy. As Omega wrapped her wound with the clean gauze, Sonic asked, "Why?"

Omega paused. "Why what?"

"Why help her? I thought you wanted to destroy me…"

"I do. But I didn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"And why do you want to destroy me?"

"Dr. Robotnik tells me you're a brutal dictator… I'm starting to doubt his words, however…"

"Robotnik? I knew it! That madman sent you after me…"

"He told me you almost killed me, and that he saved me by changing me to this shape…"

"What? How long ago was this?" Sonic asked as Omega finished up the wrappings.

"Around 3 months ago."

"That would be around the time that Eggman nearly finished me off. He would have, if it weren't for… wait a minute! You're him, aren't you? The cat that bit Eggman and saved me!"

"I… wouldn't know… I don't remember…" Omega said, severely shaken.

If what Sonic said was true… Robotnik had changed him because one small black and white cat had ruined his plans… "Dr. Robotnik… what is he like? Why does he want to kill you, really?" he asked.

Sonic stood up. "Later. It's not safe here… catch up when you can; I'll be at the big mansion, this way," he said, taking Amy in his arms and running off.


	3. Annoyance and Rage

Omega closed up his arm and coiled the chain at his side once more. And then, he took off running in the direction that Sonic had been running. He still needed to stop him… In time, he came to a city. He slowed down, and began to walk through the crowded streets. Suddenly, they weren't all that crowded anymore. People, cars, they all hurried away from him. People looked at him from windows, and whispered. What were they whispering about? He decided to ask someone. Omega walked up to one of the few remaining pedestrians, and said, "Excuse me…"

The man took one look at him, gasped, and ran off. "Wait!" he shouted after him. "I know I have a robotic arm, but that's nothing to be worried about! I don't want to hurt anyone…"

"Don't bother," a voice came from a dark alleyway.

Omega turned quickly to see who was there. A shadowy figure, his face totally hidden, was standing framed in the space between 2 buildings. "Who are you?" he demanded, flexing his claws.

"That doesn't matter right now. You were about to ask that guy a question, right? So ask me, instead," the figure replied, not moving so much as one inch.

"You… oh, all right. What are all those people whispering about in those buildings?"

"Is that all? It's YOU."

"But… why? And why did he run from me?"

"Both those questions have the same answer, kid. Take a look at the back of your hand."

Omega did as he was instructed, though he was still suspicious of the whole thing. On the backs of his gloves, there were 2 matching insignia, Doctor Robotnik's. "It's the insignia of Doctor Robotnik… but-" he started.

"Bingo," the figure interrupted. "You've fallen in with the good doctor, haven't you? Well, here's news for you; Doc Robotnik, AKA the Eggman, ain't exactly benevolent. You could go so far as to say that he's outright evil. The people of this city are afraid of him and his creations. They've done a lot of damage."

Omega was shocked at this accusation of his creator and father figure. "You can't possibly expect me to believe…" he started, than stopped.

Things that he had taken for granted on Robotnik's island were beginning to look a little fishy. Why did he have so many weapons and robots, if he was so good and kind? He had said they were for defense, but aside from the training robots he had used, all of the robots on the island had fairly bristled with weapons. It was tantamount to an… invasion force…

The seed of doubt had been planted in his mind. Now all it needed was some good fertilizer. The figure smiled to himself. "Now, you're looking for Sonic, right, kid?" he asked.

Omega nodded silently, contemplating what this strange man had told him. If it was true… then Sonic might well be a hero. The figure pointed down the road, toward a green plain. "The mansion he's living in is over there. But now, I have to go…" the figure said, and began to back away into the shadows.

"Wait!" Omega shouted, and grabbed for the man. "Who are you?"

But his hand encountered nothing.

He stared into the darkness, and shook his head. That wasn't possible. He couldn't have MISSED… could he? He was supposed to be the best of the best! That's what Dr. Robotnik had told him… but doubt was growing in his mind. So many things he had been told seemed to be called into doubt. It was… no. Best not to think right now. He had to run. So he started to run, in the direction that the man had indicated, because it coincided with the direction that he had been heading… and in about 10 minutes of hard running later, he came upon a large mansion. He was just about winded… but he could still sense some sort of… power… emanating from the building, in the back of his mind. He was too tired to register it consciously, though. Omega slowed, walking up to the front gate. It was unlocked, so he went in.

As he went into the main compound, he noticed that something was off… for one thing, there was an old man staring at him. The old man was almost bald, with a shock of white hair, and he was rubbing his chin, muttering to himself. He then reached over to Omega and started examining his mechanical arm. "Interesting…" the old man said.

By this time, Omega had had enough. He jerked his arm out of the man's grasp. "What the heck do you think you're doing, old man?" he demanded, showing his teeth and lashing his tail in annoyance.

"My, you're interesting. Where did you come from? Was it Mobius, like Sonic?" the old man asked, unperturbed.

"No," Omega replied, calming down slightly. "I'm from somewhere around here. Dr. Robotnik…"

"Robotnik! The Eggman? That explains the mechanical arm, then. But what are you doing here? If you were here to steal the Chaos Emeralds, I'm sure you'd be more stealthy than that!"

"Um… Sonic invited me…" Omega began, scratching the back of his head. "I sorta tried to kill him, and accidentally wounded his girlfriend, and now I'm looking for information on the good Dr…"

"Yes, Sonic is a good source of information on Robotnik- wait, YOU wounded Amy?"

"Yes, but I patched her back up again. I don't want to hurt people… I just want Justice…"

"You should go talk to them, then. Tails will probably be waiting for you, too. He's a little genius, with machines."

"Um… all right then… which way?"

"Down this corridor, to the left."

"Thank you. Oh, and by the way, **_NEVER_** do that to me again," Omega said, and began walking in the direction indicated by the old man…

Soon, he came upon a room with a bed, a huge television, and a big couch. Amy was on the bed, and Sonic was on the couch along with an orange fox with double tails, a rabbit in a dress, and some sort of blue and yellow thing with a bowtie. This seemed to be par for the course, as he was a black and white cat in running shoes, wearing a chain around his waist. "I'm here, Sonic," he said quietly.

Sonic looked up at him, along with the fox and rabbit. "Omega, you made it… what took you?" Sonic asked.

"The fact that this place is about 10 miles from where we met. I'm not as fast as you are; you know that. So, are you going to tell me about Dr. Robotnik, or not?"

"Oh, we'll tell you, all right… but first, I want you to meet my associates. The orange fox there with the twin tails is named Miles, but we call him Tails. The little rabbit girl is Cream, and the Chao is Cheese."

"Cream and Cheese? Someone needs a lesson in comparative naming… but I want to know… if you're not evil, why does Robotnik want to kill you?" Omega asked.

"It's because HE'S evil," Tails interjected. "Sonic keeps ruining his plans for world domination here, just like on Mobius!"

Omega stood aghast. "Evil? He's evil? And where is Mobius? I'm so confused…" he moaned.

Then, Sonic began to tell Omega all about the things Robotnik had done, here and on Mobius, the planet they were from. He told him how they had arrived on earth, through the power of the Chaos Control. Finally, Sonic detailed out how he had been stopped each time. "That's terrible!" Omega exclaimed. "I had no idea about how much he's done… and now everything that didn't make sense before is clear… well, almost. If I'm thinking about this correctly, the power of Chaos is Life… the power to give, and to take away Life. So why can't anyone else transform with the Chaos Emeralds?"

"No one else has ever tried," Sonic said, and shrugged.

"Mr. Omega…?" Cream asked tremulously.

Omega looked at Cream. "Yes?"

"Mr. Omega, why did you hurt Amy like that? Why were you trying to kill Sonic?"

"Robotnik has apparently tricked me… and he's not going to get away with it. Amy getting hurt was entirely an accident, little girl."

Cream turned away from Omega, refusing to even look at him any longer. Omega shook his head, and sighed… then Tails said, "Well, as long as you're going to be on our side… would you like an Upgrade?"

Omega perked up at this. "Upgrade?" he asked, curious.

"For that arm of yours. As far as I can tell, it's pretty basic… no weapons or anything useful, except for a storage compartment."

"That would be nice, yes… I'm going to need some more firepower, something not built by Robotnik, if I'm going to go up against him."

"To the Lab!" Tails exclaimed, and ran off.

"Is he always like that?" Omega asked before running after.

Sonic shrugged. "Mostly, yeah. He loves working with machines…"

Omega smiled a bit, and ran off to follow Tails. In the lab, Tails strapped his arm down to the table, and opened it up with a screwdriver. He prodded around, and pried a microchip out. Omega's arm went totally limp, and he shouted in alarm. "Don't worry, it's the Control and Override chip… if this were still in when you fought Robotnik, your arm would work against you," Tails explained.

Tails fished around in a drawer and began to modify another chip, modeling it after the original; except for one detail… this was only a control chip, without an override. Before installing the new chip, he took off some of the motors in the arm, replacing them with more powerful, advanced versions, with separate power sources. In the storage compartment, Tails installed a small plasma torch, one that would be useful for welding and cutting metal.

Omega was truly confused. His entire memory was only of Robotnik, and now he was told that the good Dr. had been lying to him the entire time? It wasn't easy to take… but now it made sense. Some of the things that hadn't fit before were clicking into place. As Tails was installing the last wire to the small generator in his arm, he became aware of the power he had been sensing all along, much, much closer than before, when he hadn't recognized it. It was there, waiting to be used. But then something changed… an antithesis to the power here, rapidly approaching. Yet, it wasn't quite an antithesis, it was more of a complement… a harmony to the melody, constraint to power, focus to energy. It was becoming unbearable. As Tails finished up and shut his arm, his head was pounding. He moved his hands to his head, holding it… it felt as though he was going to explode. "Omega?" Tails asked. "What's wrong?"

"It…" he struggled to say. "The power… approaching power… and the power that is here… that way…"

As he said this, he gestured in the direction of the first power he had sensed. "It's killing me… I can't live like this! I must… must stop them! Must prevent them from coming together!" Omega shouted, and ran off into the hallway.


	4. Introduction to Emeralds

The first power was probably too well protected in this place… so he had to stop the second power from reaching it. He ran to the front gate, and waited there as the power approached, coming just as fast as before. Now that he was further from the first power, he could bear the growing pain of the impending collision of the powers… a cloud of dust was approaching. What was causing it was unknown, as of yet. But Omega could see 3 of some sort of flying robot behind the cloud, and they bore the insignia of Dr. Robotnik. He took the chain in hand, readying for battle. He could now see what was causing the dust cloud; it was some sort of red creature on 2 legs, with spikes on its knuckles and a white spot on its chest. And clutched to its chest was a large green gem.

Omega began running toward the red thing, slowly, then faster and faster as he kicked up a cloud of dust on his own. He now knew the source of the second power, but it wasn't malevolent… it simply was, much like the first power simply was. The red creature looked up at him in great surprise as he approached, but it didn't stop running. In fact, it narrowed its eyes and sped up. Omega ignored this, and leapt up with cat-like agility, over the red creature, into the path of the robots.

He swung his chain, wrapping it around one of the robot's wings. He jerked the chain, ripping the wings off, along with the engines. The engines spun loose, crashing into the second of the robots, causing an explosion of fuel and steel. The third simply passed him by and continued pursuing the red creature. "Foolish…" Omega muttered, lashing out with the chain again.

This action sliced the third robot cleanly in half, vertically. But the red creature didn't stop, once again speeding up and running toward the mansion. Omega ran after, feeling an intense need to stop the meeting of the powers. He was slightly faster than the red thing, but couldn't possibly catch it… it ran inside, into the building that Sonic, Amy, and Tails were in. Omega followed, some 50 feet behind. He managed to reach the room, just as the red thing collapsed on the floor. He raised his chain, ready to strike… but Sonic kneeled down next to the red creature, and Omega lowered his arm. "Who is that…?" he asked, coiling the chain next to his side again.

Sonic looked up at Omega. "No time. There were badniks chasing him-"

"Key word there; were. I took care of them. It wasn't too hard, and it seemed to be the right thing to do… I guess you're right, Sonic. Robotnik was just using me…"

Omega looked at his hands, the gloved hands… the back of them had Robotnik's insignia. He clenched his hands, and closed his eyes, squeezing the tears away. All his life… a lie. It was nothing but a lie. A damnable lie, of huge proportions… the rage in his heart toward Robotnik was building. And now, he wanted Justice, more than anything else. He growled, his emotions confused. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. He was a feline. Felines weren't meant to have emotion. His eyes snapped open, and he cried out in rage and sorrow, a call for justice from his very soul… and something very strange happened, stranger than any event he had experienced thus far.

The gem in the red thing's grasp began to glow, and reality began to fade away, leaving nothing but gray, the gem, and seven others, about 50 yards off. Everything else was totally still. The seven gems rose, as far as he could tell, and floated over to Omega. They orbited him for a moment, and then gathered around the larger green gem. A female voice started to say something… "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is Power, Enriched by the heart. The Controller is the one that unifies the Chaos…"

And then a different, male voice started to say the same thing, as the female repeated it. "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is Power, Enriched by the heart. The Controller is the one that unifies the Chaos…"

And a multitude of voices began to chant it, over and over… "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is Power, Enriched by the heart. The Controller is the one that unifies the Chaos…"

And after an immeasurable time, after Omega had been quite overwhelmed, the chanting stopped. And a new voice spoke, sexless, ageless, emotionless, "I am Chaos Green. I am Strength."

A different, but similar, voice spoke. "I am Chaos Blue. I am Speed."

Five more, different, voices spoke, each in turn. "I am Chaos White. I am Agility."

"I am Chaos Violet. I am Strategy."

"I am Chaos Red. I am Stamina."

"I am Chaos Yellow. I am Skill."

"I am Chaos Cyan. I am Luck."

And all seven voices spoke at once… "Together, We are the Emeralds. We are Life."

"And they are Mine," a new voice spoke, quietly. "I am the Controller, the one that serves to unite the Chaos. They call me the Master Emerald. We have heard your cry, a cry we have heard many times, but never so powerful. You want Justice. Not Vengeance. You were fooled, tricked into a cause of evil. This is of no matter to us. The only thing that matters is how much you want the power to make your wishes true. So far, the Hedgehogs have been the only ones able to use the true power of Chaos. They were pure, they wanted NOTHING so much as to use the power… you want nothing so much as you want Justice. So how will you use the Chaos?"

"I… I will bring Justice to the world… I will. No matter what the cost. Justice will be had!" Omega replied.

Although totally intangible and invisible, and not even there, the voice seemed to be satisfied with this answer, even though its tone did not change. "Very well. Go back to the World. We will be there when the time comes for you to use the power."


	5. Short for Dreaming

And the world came back, the Emeralds faded, and the red creature was still there. Nothing had changed. Had he just… imagined it? Had it all been a dream? He shook his head slightly to clear it… Sonic was still looking at him. "So you've figured him out, then? Well, to answer your question, this is Knuckles the Echidna, the keeper of the Master Emerald."

Omega frowned. "So… is that something like the Chaos Emeralds?" he asked slowly.

"No…" Knuckles said, struggling to his knees, still clutching the Master Emerald, and he glared at Omega. "The Master Emerald neutralizes the power of the Chaos Emeralds…"

Sonic tried to help Knuckles, but he swatted his hand away. "I'm fine!" he snapped. "I just need a bit of rest…"

With that, he flopped onto the couch, his eyes shut tight. "I'm not sure that that's quite how it works…" Omega said.

Knuckles opened his eyes and glared at him. "Oh? And what do you know, Cat? I don't even know who you are! You might be one of Eggman's lackeys…"

"My name is Omega, and that's FORMER lackey, for your information," Omega snapped back. "And I know that the ultimate power of Chaos… is Life. The Master Emerald wouldn't STOP Life, it would simply… re-focus it…"

And with that, Omega turned around and walked out of the room. He knew he was probably being immature, but he didn't care. In human terms, his physical age was somewhere around 15. But he was now aging at a human rate… which meant that although he was more physically mature than Tails, he was pretty much the most naïve teenager to walk the face of the planet.

He found an empty room down the hall, one with nothing in it but a carpet. First, he shut and locked the door, immersing the room in darkness. He took his chain from his side and coiled it on the floor. Then, he turned off his mechanical arm, lay down, and went to sleep.


	6. Bacon and Burnt Fur

He awoke the next day to the sound of someone banging on the door. He turned his arm back on, unlocked the door, and opened it a tiny crack, looking out. At the door was a male human youth, about twice the size of Tails. "Omega?" the youth asked. "It's morning. Usually, Sonic likes an early start."

"Kid…" Omega said wearily. "There's one major difference between me and Sonic… He's a hedgehog, and I'm a cat. Unless it's something important, don't wake me before noon. But since I'm up anyway…"

Omega yawned and grabbed the chain from the floor, and coiled it at his side. He then looked at his gloves again… and activated the plasma torch in his arm. He charred away the insignia of Robotnik, leaving no trace aside from a black spot on each glove. But something still wasn't right… he needed something to identify with. Then he remembered his name; the Greek letter… and he began to cut into the bar across his chest. It quickly heated, but Omega didn't mind the pain… and he finished. Now, in the center of the bar, slightly obscured by the smoke from his newly singed fur, was the Greek symbol, 

He went into the hallway, and immediately caught the scent of something delicious. Curious, he went to investigate. The smell was coming from the kitchen, a pan of sizzling meat, where someone human was cooking, while the youth was sitting at the table, waiting. He walked over, and reached into the pan, and immediately had his hand slapped by a greasy spoon in the hand of the cook. "It's not ready, Omega. Sit at the table…" she ordered.

Omega sat at the table next to the youth, and looked over at him. "How do you all know my name?" he asked.

The youth looked at Omega. "Sonic told us, of course," he said. "Oh, my name's Chris, by the way. You've already met Grandpa."

"The old kook who grabbed me by the arm? Yeah."

The cooking woman chose that moment to set a plate of meat down on the table. Omega immediately speared a piece on his claws and began to eat. "This is delicious!" he said. "What is it?"

"Bacon." The woman replied, taken aback by Omega's table manners.

"Bacon… it's good. I've never had stuff like this before. All Robotnik had was some kind of nutritional sludge…" he said, shuddering at the memory of the taste.

It had tasted horrible, but it had kept him alive, and it had been the only food available. But at the moment, it was just a bitter reminder of how he had been fooled, completely and utterly. He finished the piece of bacon, took a few more, and then wandered off, trying to stay away from the sense of Chaos. His headache had pretty much vanished after the Master Emerald had had a talk with him, but he didn't really want to get too close to the power, in case it would be given to him. He wasn't ready, yet. He needed to plot, to plan, and to come from a direction that Robotnik would never expect.

He was so immersed in his musings; he didn't notice that he had wandered into the room Amy was resting in. Sonic wasn't there, however, but Tails was. "Oh, hello, Omega." Amy said, sitting up in the bed.

Omega turned to look at Amy, slightly embarrassed. "Um… hi, Amy…" he said.

"Sonic told me all about what happened after I passed out. I think it's just terrible, what happened to you. You weren't meant for this kind of life, you were supposed to be a natural creature."

"Um… yeah… but I think I prefer this. My life expectancy is higher, for one thing," Omega replied, scratching the back of his head with his right arm. "But what I came in here for was… um… I don know… maybe… to apologize…"

"But Sonic already-" Amy started.

"I know, I know," Omega interrupted. "But I still have to apologize. I'm not like Robotnik. I have to take responsibility for my actions, even when it's an accident. Otherwise, I wouldn't be me. I don't think I'm quite feline anymore…"

And then, there was a huge sound, the kind of sound that shakes the body to the core. An explosion, from the direction of the Chaos Emeralds' power. Omega shook his head in shock. The Chaos Emeralds would do that on their own, would they? But then, the power began to move, away from the mansion. Omega knew that something was very wrong… he burst out into the hallway and ran directly into a cloud of dust and smoke. He could barely breathe, but he kept going, using the Chaos Emeralds as a guide point, and going toward them.


	7. Stupidity of Physics, or Rude Denunciati...

Abruptly, he burst out of the cloud of dust and smoke, to a horrible sight. An entire wall was gone, obliterated by several demolition robots. Doctor Robotnik was there, holding all of the Chaos Emeralds in his egg flyer, laughing at Sonic, who was fighting the robots. He hadn't noticed Omega yet, who was shaking in rage. "EGGMAN!!" he shouted, and wrested his chain from his side.

Robotnik jumped a bit, and looked at Omega. "Ah… Project E-150 c. I see you're still alive. Admirable, for something I didn't expect to win. Obviously you know the truth by now, or you wouldn't be so angry… Yaagh!" he said, just as Sonic finished with the last of the demolition robots and attacked the flyer directly.

"Enough of this!" Robotnik snarled, turning around and beginning to fly away. "I have what I came for, and even though Sonic's still alive, I cannot be stopped this time!"

And with that, he flew off, even though Omega tried to jump and attack. He missed by several yards as Robotnik accelerated. "No!" he cried out, and turned to Sonic. "He's getting away…"

"Let him. We'll get him, no matter what he's got planned. Those Emeralds are ours," Sonic replied, looking angry. "We have the Tornado II. We'll get him… Tails!"

"I got it, Sonic! Tails replied, driving up in an airplane from the debris and dust, clearing it away.

The damage the robots had caused wasn't actually all that bad. It was only one wall that was gone. "Good job!" Sonic said, jumping in, and then he looked at Omega. "Sorry, this is a 2-man ride, and I can't fly this thing! Seeya!"

"Oh, no you don't…" Omega growled, picking up a long piece of metal that had been shed by the wall.

As the Tornado II took off, Omega lashed out with the flat side of his chain, wrapping it around the tail assembly, quite firmly holding it with his robotic arm. And that was his introduction to skyboarding. Granted, it wasn't very good, but it got the job done. The wind from the acceleration forced him to squint, or have his eyeballs freeze in his head. Since he needed his eyes, he opted to squint. He was vaguely aware of Sonic shouting something at him, but he couldn't quite hear him. The wind was too much to hear over.

After a few moments, he saw what sonic was trying to tell him. Shrapnel, from robots the Tornado II had shot down, was flying straight at him. Omega began to try to manipulate the board, and surprisingly, it immediately shifted to the left. Too far to the left. The chain slipped off, leaving Omega bereft of lift and acceleration. But it didn't really matter, because Omega was finally getting the hang of steering the piece of steel he was riding, and Robotnik's island lab was directly underneath him. So, he coiled the Chain around his waist, and began his descent onto the island while Sonic, Tails, and the Tornado II were landing in the jungle.

Something occurred to Omega. How was he going to land without splattering all over? Then, it hit him. A tree branch, that is. It caught him across the chest and snapped immediately, but it certainly slowed him down to a mere 12 feet per second. The next branch stopped him totally, depriving him of the board he had ridden and dropping him to the ground below, onto a large rock. "That… was stupid…" he muttered to himself as he got up.


	8. Shifting Views

He was fine at the moment, but he was going to have a killer backache in the morning, once the bruising set in… but at least he knew which way to go. He could still sense the Chaos Emeralds nearby. Omega grimaced, and started toward the sense of the Emeralds. A few moments later, he came to a large steel wall; a tower of some sort. This was the place. Opening his arm, he turned the plasma torch on and began to cut into the wall. For some reason, the security systems didn't react.

What Omega didn't know was that Tails and Sonic were already inside, and the security forces had their hands full. Sonic was running along, dodging the robots, letting them destroy each other, while Tails trailed behind as best he could. Sonic was really having fun with these stupid robots. It was like they weren't even TRYING to stop him! Eventually, they came to a huge chamber, where the Chaos Emeralds were on a dais, under glass. "Tails, you stay here. I'm going to get those Emeralds…" Sonic warned.

And with that, Sonic ran as fast as he could toward the Emeralds. But it wasn't quite fast enough. Huge metal bars slammed up through the floor around the Emeralds, and at the entrance, sealing Sonic in and Tails out. As Sonic screeched to a halt, laughter rang throughout the chamber. This was not promising, but Sonic wasn't about to be scared by something as intangible as laughter… A huge spider-like robot descended from the ceiling, and the laughter was emanating from it. It was covered in weapons, lenses for lasers, and turrets for cannons. Now that, while not actually SCARING him, was worth just a bit of worry. There didn't seem to be any really obvious thin places in its armor… "You fell right into my trap, Sonic. Omega was never anything more than a distraction. A distraction that was supposed to last quite a bit longer," Robotnik's voice came from the robot.

Sonic smirked, and said, "Bring it on, Eggman!"


	9. The Death of Omega

Meanwhile, Omega was totally lost. There was some sort of maze in here that had never been there before. And then it occurred to him… there was a trail of destruction and shrapnel from security bots. If he followed that, he'd probably come across Sonic or Tails, or perhaps some rogue robot. It was his best bet, in any case. He didn't recognize this at all.

All in all, the path was quite pleasant, although it went into some tight spaces, and up walls. It was a good thing that he was feline, and with his claws could climb them, although with a bit of difficulty. About 10 minutes later, he could tell that something was wrong. For one thing, the door at the end of the hall was barred, and Tails was tugging on them in a futile attempt to get inside. And the Emeralds were very close… "What's happening?" Omega demanded as he walked up to Tails.

Tails jumped a bit in surprise, and looked at Omega. "Omega?" he asked, surprised. "How did you survive?"

"I landed in a tree. Now what's happening?"

"Sonic's fighting Eggman, and so far, it's a stalemate. Neither can do any damage to the other, but it's only a matter of time-" Tails started.

"Say no more. Eggman's preoccupied, then? Perfect. He won't notice a little shadow creeping across the room."

And with that, Omega began to cut through the bars on the door. He only needed to cut through 2, but the metal was strong, and took him 10 minutes. In the meantime, Sonic was dodging the attacks of the egg-spider, over and over, searching for a weakness. There didn't seem to be ANY sort of chink in its armor… it moved too fast for its joints to be exposed. And then, the egg-spider stopped, and began to buck up and down; trying to shake something off… it was Omega, clinging to its back. Sonic stopped, and began to examine the egg-spider while Omega was distracting it… and found its weakness. A small panel, on the underside, was exposed. Sonic rolled up into a ball, and began to spin… and as he did, the spider threw Omega off its back, across the room, sans chain.

He crashed into the bars around the Chaos Emeralds, barely alive. His robotic arm was pretty much useless now, a piece of smashed metal. Omega closed his eyes, hating himself, hating Eggman, hating how he had failed. He had failed to bring Justice to the world. He had failed in his mission. He had failed in his Life, fooled into thinking the wrong things, fooled into believing lies. It wasn't fair. It shouldn't end this way…

Meanwhile, Sonic spun into the exposed panel. KRA-ZZZAAPP! He fell, his fur charred and smoking, but still able to fight he got up, but was abruptly swatted into a wall by the egg-spider. As the egg-spider started toward Sonic's prone form, Omega began to lose hope. He would die, they would all die… "SONIC!!!" Tails cried, and ran over to him.

The egg-spider took aim at Tails, and fired its laser at him. It hit, knocking him to the ground, his leg bleeding. Omega watched all of this, helpless, his rage growing. It shouldn't end this way. It couldn't end this way… it WOULDN'T end this way! He would have JUSTICE! He clenched his right hand, and to his surprise, gripped a Chaos Emerald.

The Emerald pulsed with light, and rose above Omega's stricken form, breaking the bars that had held it. The other Emeralds did so as well, glowing, pulsing, in an orbit. Omega rose with them, the center of their orbit, as the glow surrounded and engulfed him. "What?! NO!!" Robotnik shouted from the egg-spider, and fired at the chaos Emeralds.

But it was of no use. The Chaos Emeralds simply took the blast with no disruption, and the glow grew. The world went gray for Omega… everything else froze… and the Emeralds Spoke as one. "Will you take the Power, the Power of Life, and live? Will you do what you have promised, and bring Justice into the world?"

Omega was weak. He could barely speak. He had expended most of his energy clenching his fist around the Emerald. His heart was stopping, his lungs ached and burned… his brain wasn't getting enough blood… "Yeh… Yes…" he said, and died.


	10. After Life

Death

Was this death?

So warm

So welcoming

No

Cannot give in

More to do

Justice must be had

Life

But…

There is no more Life

Not for me

The blackness burns

The darkness wants

Consume me…

No!

Get away!

**The servers are **

I'm going back

**The seven Chaos**

You can't stop me

**Chaos is Power**

I want Life

**Enriched by the Heart**

Life is the way

**The Controller is**

Not Death

**The one that unifies**

Help me

**The Chaos…**

Help me live

Help me love

Chaos Spirits…

…

Help me…

…

Please…


	11. After Death

And then, he was alive again. He was floating in midair, glowing. He could feel the power coursing through him… his fur was a different color, it was burnished gold, all over, except for his chest, where his fur shone silver. His body was covered in flame, but that quickly disappeared. His arm, it was repaired, and a new color, along with all the rest of the metal on his body. It was bright red. "Im… impossible!" Robotnik stuttered. "Only Sonic-"

"Only… because no one… else… tried…" Sonic said, getting up slowly, his right arm held limp as he grinned. "And now… he's got the power of the Emeralds running through his veins… say hello… to Super Omega…"

He looked up at Omega, still grinning. "I knew you were one of the good guys…" he said. "Now go do what you need to. Go and bring Justice…"

And then, he collapsed back to the ground, most of his energy spent. Omega looked at Sonic's prone form, and then looked at the spider. He descended to the ground, and began his inexorable advance, glaring. With a sneer in his voice, the Eggman said, "So you have a new color scheme. Good for you. Now, take this!"

The egg-spider began to fire on Omega, with the three lasers on its front. They slowed Omega, but they did not stop him. Omega suddenly stopped, and looked at Sonic. He was dying. His heart wouldn't last much longer. Sonic had woken up enough to watch the battle, and to smile. Omega stopped walking toward the egg-spider and started toward Sonic. Sonic watched him, not able to move. He didn't have enough energy. Omega, on the other hand, was on fire. It was too much energy for him to handle. He couldn't keep this up for long… he put one hand on Sonic, and gave the energy to him. The Power of Chaos is Life, the Power to give it, and to take it away.

Omega didn't want that Power. He only wanted Justice. As the last of the Power flowed from Omega to Sonic, Omega blacked out. Justice would be had. Sonic would be the Hero. Sonic started glowing gold as he rose into the air, flames of gold all around him. Omega's fur turned back to its normal color as Sonic looked on. Then, the hedgehog turned to the egg-spider. He smirked, and then he turned, and started to run. This would be the end of the egg-spider. This would be the beginning of the Justice that the poor cat, Omega, so desperately wanted. "WHAT?!" the Eggman shouted. "NO!!!"

Sonic ran and ran, becoming a golden cyclone in the room, one that was centered on the egg-spider. The force of the wind overruled gravity, and it began to rise into the air. Abruptly, Sonic stopped, and jumped. He slammed through the egg-spider like a flaming chainsaw through a Kleenex. After going through, he did it again and again, turning the spider into a pile of useless mechanical parts resembling Swiss cheese.

While all this was happening, Robotnik was looking on from a distant control room. It was frustrating, watching each of his creations fail against these creatures… but he had learned from the mistakes of the past. Pouring everything into one small plan wasn't going to work against Sonic, history had told him as much… he had need of an even bigger plan… well, Project E-150 c was a bust, but perhaps he could use this new information to his benefit. Justice was obviously not a motivating force that he could use, not after that fiasco… but perhaps he didn't NEED a motivating force. As he switched off the monitor, he smiled. It could definitely work…


	12. Going Home, but not Quite Finishing

Sonic landed on his feet, and the Emeralds clinked to the ground as the power left him and he returned to his normal coloration. He was no longer burned, and his fur was whole again. But he was tired. "Tails?" he said to the young fox on the ground.

"Yeah, Sonic?" Tails replied.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"That's nice. Let's sleep here tonight…" Sonic said, and he was asleep before he hit the ground.

The next day, Omega woke early, at around 9 A.M. He was tired, and hungry, but his mechanical arm was intact. He hadn't been getting enough sleep for his species. When he got back to the mansion, he was going to sleep for 2 days in a row…

Sonic and Tails both awoke refreshed and ready to move, aside from a slight limp in Tails's case. But there was still a problem. The Tornado II was still built for 2, tops. By general agreement, Sonic, Tails, and most of the Chaos Emeralds left in the plane. But one Chaos Emerald had to stay behind. There just wasn't enough room. Omega wanted to see if he could talk to it, anyway… so Chaos Cyan stayed behind with him.

As he waited for the Tornado II to return for him, he gazed into the depths of the bright bluish Emerald. After a small interval of about an hour or so, the world went gray, with him and the Emerald the only source of color. "Yes?" the sexless, emotionless voice of Chaos Cyan came.

"Cyan… what happened, yesterday? Why did you give me such power?" he asked.

"Because you needed it. You had all of us in one place, and your thought was powerful enough to summon our power from its slumber. You used the Power of Life to your advantage, just as Robotnik would have. We don't particularly care how we are used, so long as the thought and emotion is powerful enough to awaken our Spirits."

"So, your power can be used by anyone?"

"Anyone who is capable of the intensity of thought and emotion, yes."

"So… why can I speak to you? And why can you speak to me?"

"That is the mystery here. I don't know. None of the Chaos Spirits do. The Master might, though. You'll have to ask the spirit that resides within it."

"I'll do that. Thank you," Omega replied as color returned to the world.

Now, all there was to do was to wait. Eventually, he heard the sound of the approaching Tornado II, and saw the telltale color scheme. It came in for a landing, close by. Omega stood, and walked over to the plane. He got in, holding the Chaos Emerald tightly. The entire trip passed uneventfully. Omega was silent, and Tails concentrated on flying. As they landed near the mansion, Omega jumped out of the plane, landing on his feet. He headed inside, closely guarding the Emerald.

Sonic came out of the mansion as Omega approached. He was still singed, but he looked much better than before. The blue hedgehog held out his hand for the Emerald. "Give it to me," he said. "I'll put it in the vault, with the others."

Omega reluctantly handed the emerald to Sonic, who turned and walked back inside. The cyborg cat had only one more thing to do before curling up to sleep in the room he had claimed as his own. He headed down the hall to the place Knuckles was sleeping, and touched him on the arm that wasn't clutching the Master Emerald. "Knuckles," he said firmly.

Knuckles snapped awake and looked at Omega with a glare. "What do you want, cyborg?" he demanded, sitting up straight.

"I need to hold the Master Emerald… only for a second, but I need to hold it," Omega replied.

Knuckles shook his head. "No way. I don't trust you…"

"I had hoped to do this with your permission… but…" Omega said, and snatched the Emerald from Knuckle's grip with cat speed. The world went gray as Knuckles cried out. The Master Emerald was glowing in his grasp, and its voice came from nowhere, "Cyan told me you might want to speak with me… what is it that you want to know?"

"I want to know why I can sense you, and the Chaos Emeralds. I want to know why I can hear your voices in this place. And I'd REALLY like to know what this place is!" Omega said, gesturing at the frozen echidna.

"Oh, is that all? This place is simply a piece of time that has become separated from Reality, that's all. This is the place that the Chaos Spirits and myself actually exist. We cannot be on the same plane at the same time as our physical forms, the Emeralds. That would be disastrous."

"So… why can you speak with me, that I can hear?"

"As far as I can tell… it is because you were once animal, closer to the Chaos, and to Life in general. As for why you can sense us, I don't know. Perhaps it is because we disrupt electromagnetic fields?"

Omega nodded, unsure. "That makes sense, I guess…"

"Yes. Now would you please stop upsetting the Guardian? He's not in the best of mental states…"

The World came back, and Knuckles finished crying out. Omega handed the Emerald back to him, and Knuckles glared more angrily than before at the cyborg. "What do you think you're doing, snatching the Master Emerald from me like that? If I were at full strength, you'd have no teeth right now…!" Knuckles shouted.

"All right, all right… no need to get violent… I'm sorry that I did that, if it's any consolation," Omega said, holding his hands up placatingly.

Knuckles looked suspicious for a moment, then his face softened. "I suppose I'll forgive you… this time. But don't try anything like that again!"

"Don't worry, Knuckles… I'm not going to try to take the Master Emerald from you."

"Then we'll probably get along just fine…"

Omega nodded, turned, and left. He went down the hall to the room he had slept in earlier, opened the door, and found a surprise. There was an actual bed… there was a workbench, with all sorts of mechanical equipment… and there was a computer. Also, the room was much, much larger than before. He looked around, puzzled, and found a note, folded on the workbench. He opened it, and read, "Dear Omega, I'm not sure if you'll like this surprise or not, but it was the only way I could think of to repay you. If you surrendered the Power to him, Sonic and I would be dead right now, and the Chaos Emeralds would belong to Eggman. I phoned Chris during the night, and told him what had happened. He told his grandfather, who had this built for you. Again, thank you. –Tails."

Omega set the note back down, and looked around again. He felt a bit… odd. He felt… good. For once, the bitterness of his foolishness wasn't foremost in his mind. It was still there, but behind something far more positive. It was something he had never had, even as a cat. He felt… like he was HOME. Either that, or he was delirious due to fatigue and exposure to short-wave radiation.

Omega flopped down on the bed, and fell asleep nearly immediately.


	13. Gifts and Explanations

The next day, Omega awoke at the stroke of noon. As he looked at his arm, he cursed. He had forgotten to turn it off… it would probably keep running for a good long while, but that was no reason to waste energy by having it constantly running. Too late now. He'd just have to cope. He stood up, and looked at the computer. It had Internet access, judging by the cord running into the wall. And according to the labels, it was DSL.

He turned it on, and began to surf the web, searching for references to the Eggman, Doctor Robotnik. What he found was profoundly disturbing. Mostly it was confirmation of what he had been told by Sonic and Tails, although there wasn't anything about Mobius. He didn't really expect there to be. The majority of the references seemed to be about the space colony ARK, and some sort of doomsday weapon that the Eggman helped to stop after he activated it and it got out of control. Apparently this all had happened only a year and a half before… interesting.

Also included was the brief mention of a second anthromorphic hedgehog, named Shadow. It appeared that he had sacrificed himself to save humanity and the earth. He, Dr. Eggman, and a white bat named Rouge, together stole all 7 Chaos Emeralds from where they had been originally. But this didn't seem to pertain to him, in particular.

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Annoyed, Omega got up and opened the door. "Yes?" he said to Chris, who was looking at him with concern.

"Sorry to bother you, Omega, but there's a package here for you…" he said as he pointed out a large box in the hallway. "It was from someone I've never seen before. He said he met you in the city, and that you'd know who he was."

"Really? He never actually told me his name…" Omega replied, as he dragged the big package into his room. "Thanks for telling me about this."

Chris nodded, and closed the door. Omega sniffed at the package suspiciously. The man he had met hadn't told him his name, or anything about himself. He had only spoken of other people. That in itself was suspicious. But the package smelled all right. There weren't any explosives in there he could smell, just metal, grease, foam, and paper. He slit open the packing tape holding the cardboard closed with one claw, and opened it. On top, there was an envelope labeled, in capital letters, OMEGA. Directly underneath were packing peanuts. He opened the envelope and took out the letter.

"Dear Omega," it read. "Congratulations on your change of sides. I know that such a decision wouldn't have been at all easy for you. I'll bet you're wondering how I know about all of this, and who I am. I am an agent for a special organization, not like the government. We are not GUN, either, pretending to work with the government. Nobody knows about us, they simply suspect. Not even you will be told what we are called. It would be too easy for you to tell someone else. But we are an organization concerned with the well being of the human race, not simply of one country or group of individuals. We have not contacted Sonic with information, simply because he has too many friends that he would confide in. You, on the other hand, won't confide in anyone.

"Enough about us, though. Enclosed within are parts for a new arm, with enhanced neuronet capabilities. The actuators for your current arm are well out of date, and that leads me, and my organization, to believe that you weren't meant to actually defeat Sonic. This new arm will certainly be more battle-ready than your old one.

"Also, your new arm will possess a free wireless internet uplink, courtesy of my organization. Do not attempt to track us via the arm's specifications. It would be impossible to do so. Be assured; your battle with the Eggman is not done. It probably won't be done for a while.

"Sincerely yours, Agent Bane."

So… the man he had met was Agent Bane, whatever that meant. It was getting more and more curious by the second. A secret organization, for the well being of mankind? That was unlikely. But he'd have to find out more before he could judge. The Eggman business had taught him that much.

Omega dug through the packing peanuts, brought out mechanical parts, and set them on the workbench. Examining them, he found that the parts did, indeed, seem to belong to a mechanical arm, one of much higher quality than his own. Complex instructions were included with the parts, and a list of instructions of a different sort, that would only apply after he actually installed the arm. Then, it occurred to him… he had absolutely no idea how to get his original arm OFF. Oh, well… he could deal with that later. For now, he wanted to build this new arm, if only out of sheer curiosity.

He began to build, from mechanical fingers with extendable claws to the shoulder, which could rotate in a nearly spherical range of motion. It had something like a wristwatch on it, which was, according to the instructions, the Internet uplink. And then, there was the difficult part… getting the old arm off. Omega started taking the skin off of his arm, and found something intriguing. All that was holding his old arm on were three bundles of wires and 10 bolts. They weren't particularly strong bolts, either. Further evidence of the Eggman's lack of care as to what happened to him.

Of course, this meant that he would have to get rid of the last bit of biological tissue on his left arm… but this didn't particularly bother him. He detached the arm, and lost any and all feeling from there. He plugged the wires into the new arm and tried to flex it, before bolting it on. The arm moved. Omega smiled. He then moved it into position, and bolted it in with stronger bolts, included in the package. They had certainly done their research… the wires were configured to fit in perfectly with the Eggman's outdated design. It was strange, how well it worked. In fact, if he hadn't searched the entire thing for control/override chips, he would suspect that Agent Bane was Eggman's lackey…

The cyborg cat glanced at the instructions. In order to activate the wireless Internet uplink, press the wrist device once. He did so, and something odd happened. Superimposed on his vision was a screen, showing a search page. He heard a voice… the voice of Agent Bane. "Hello, Omega. I am Agent Bane. Do not be alarmed. I am speaking to you directly into your brain, through the wireless uplink and the neuronet system in your arm. This is the search page for your Internet connection. You can find anything here. Your arm will translate your thoughts into data, and respond appropriately. You can, effectively, surf the Internet at the speed of Thought. If you have a question for me, ask via Email, Goodbye, and good luck."

Omega shook his head, and pressed the button again. His vision cleared of the search page. The room was devoid of anything but what he had put and found there. This was obviously advanced technology. Where had they gotten it? Had they developed it themselves? These seemed to be good questions to ask Agent Bane… later. Right now, he noticed a growing need… he was VERY hungry. He had had 4 pieces of bacon and various small forest mammals for all of his nutritive needs for the past few days. Although this had kept him alive, it really wasn't filling.

Omega opened the door and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him. He looked at a clock across the hall, and blinked. It was 6 P.M. He had spent 6 hours surfing the Internet and putting his arm together… well, at least he was in time for dinner.


	14. An End to Confusion

And for a while, it was good. He had regular correspondence with Agent Bane, who answered a few of his questions, but not nearly enough of them to record here. As it turned out, the entirety of Omega's importance was simply that he was in the right place at the right time. He had never been destined for greatness; there was no huge conspiracy about him. If any other creature had been subjected to the same situation, the outcome would likely have been the same, for the most part. Sonic would have found a way to kill the creature sent to kill him, and he would have found a way to defeat the egg-spider on his own. Omega wouldn't have been one of Sonic's friends. He would have been among the vanquished. As a cat, he had saved Sonic the hedgehog. As an Anthromorph, he had trapped him, and then saved him again. But in doing so, he had helped the Eggman, whether he liked it or not. Will he ever be able to have Justice? Only Time will tell.

The End of Confusion. The Beginning of Certainty.


End file.
